There is a strong rumour doing the rounds that when the England squad to contest the Test series against Sri Lanka is announced tomorrow week, the name of Andrew Strauss will be missing and in its place will be that of Mark Ramprakash. It would, were it to happen, be another stunner in a sporting autumn that already has had more turn-ups than a Savile Row clearance sale.

Only last month, with a strict brief to ensure that selections should anticipate playing a full part in England cricket over the next year, Strauss, already jettisoned from the one-day plans, was awarded a central contract by the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, and the England coach, Peter Moores. Given that in the past year three contracted players in particular - Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones - played little or no cricket for England while receiving sizeable salaries, there would be no shortage of flak heading their way if such an exercise in generosity were to be repeated.

It is, though, a tantalising thought that, at the age of 38, arguably the most under-exploited talent in cricket in the past decade might be given a last chance for redemption. We know about statistics and their infuriating capacity to emulate bikinis by both revealing and concealing. Ramprakash made his Test debut on the same day as the other great lost batsman Graeme Hick and, given their achievements away from the international arena, it is astounding to reflect that of the 231 first-class centuries the pair have amassed between them - 97 to Ramprakash, 134 to Hick - just eight (Hick six and Ramprakash one each against West Indies and Australia) have come in Test matches.

Ramprakash too, it would be argued, has enjoyed more than sufficient opportunity to establish himself and, through what can only be ascribed to temperamental deficiency manifesting itself in a ferocious intensity, has not managed so to do: 52 Test matches, in fact, the same as Sir Donald Bradman, for 4,646 runs fewer and, at 27.32, an average inferior by 72.62.

Yet in the past seven seasons, since he moved his county allegiance across the river from Lord's to The Oval, he has produced figures for Surrey that have approached Bradmanesque consistency, culminating in more than 2,000 runs for the past two seasons and the accolade of becoming in the process the first batsman to average in excess of 100 for successive English summers. Century after century, 46 of them, have been reeled off for the Brown Caps, two of them in the final match against Lancashire.

It it is more than that, though. Ramprakash goes big: 34 of his total hundreds have seen him to 150 and beyond; 21 of these have come since his move, almost one in every two centuries, seven have been doubles, and one a triple. These figures are as staggering as those of his Test failures.

Whether he could resurrect a Test career (or even wants to) is another matter. Age is not the issue where once it might have been: paradoxically, for some, longevity appears to be going hand in glove with the increasing intensity of the international programme. Wasn't Graham Gooch 41 when he played his final international, as was Geoffrey Boycott before him? Unquestionably, too, his technique has been perfected.

More pertinent, it seems, is the argument offered by some that his remarkable batting in recent years has been a function of the level at which he now plays and the lack of pressure that brings. There is still a touchpaper waiting to be lit, but he is generally more relaxed. Why, he might argue, do I need the hassle now? The answer, beyond the honour of playing for your country, is straightforward: because he remains a competitor. He still has something to prove to himself and to others.

So we shall see. The England Test captain, Michael Vaughan, seems to be pooh-poohing the notion (although it should be remembered that a return for Ramprakash would necessitate a shift to the top of the order for him). He won't be around for the 2009 Ashes, he says, as if that is the be-all and end-all. Or will the refreshing willingness of Moores to look beyond the clique bring the prodigal back to the family?